Station Boosts Orbit, RRM Work Resumes

The ISS Progress 49 resupply craft, docked to the aft end of the Zvezda service module, fired its engines Wednesday evening. The engine firing raised the station’s perigee by one mile in preparation for next month’s arrival of the ISS Progress 50 cargo craft. The new Progress vehicle will launch and dock to the station on the same day after four orbits on Feb. 11.

The Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) is due to resume activities Thursday afternoon after a one day delay. Engineers requested the pause so they could conduct software checks ensuring the Canadarm2 and Dextre operated safely. The RRM experiment will test techniques to service and refuel satellites to extend their original missions.

Commander Kevin Ford powered up the first humanoid robot in space, Robonaut2, Thursday morning for a series of upcoming activities. He later prepared hardware for the Integrated Cardiovascular experiment that measures the shrinkage of a crew member’s heart in space, called cardiac atrophy. Finally, Ford removed and replaced bacteria filters in the Destiny laboratory.

Flight Engineer and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield spent some time speaking with young students at a public school named after him in Ontario, Canada. Hadfield earlier worked inside the Columbus module gathering tools to install a spare water on/off valve. He also reviewed science and hardware payloads to get ready for eventually working with them.

Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn began his day measuring his visual acuity. After that he updated software on the Waste and Hygiene Compartment’s Urine Processor Assembly. He later inspected and cleaned fans inside the Destiny lab and Unity node.

Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin started their day partnering together for the SPRUT-2 experiment. That study observes the liquid components of a crew member’s body such as cellular liquids and blood flow. The duo also worked together on the BAR experiment testing methods and tools for detecting pressure leaks on the International Space Station.

Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko transitioned the Zvezda’s computer network to a backup configuration. Romanenko also filled tanks inside the Progress 49 and later conducted ocean photography for the Seiner experiment.